No quite frankly, but I am sure a lot of people do. Which is why I severely dislike the new radio ads for government backed training schemes.

The ads are basic and reasonable enough, but using those annoying alienation tactics I loathe so much. "Mum who is jealous that her daughter gets online tips from her friends mum" and "Grandad who feels silly not being able to get in touch with his family" are among two ideas that just sound patronising when they should be inspiring.

Win back your kids love by knowing some good URLs! No. A better understanding of what your kid enjoys and gets up to? Yes.

Yes, tell over 50's that they can keep in better touch with their families using the internet; but don't insult their intelligence whilst doing it.

Friday, January 25, 2008

After loads of bad publicity for energy companies pushing big price increases (and then advertising "fix prices now!") the instant their costs go up; I was worried to get a letter from my energy supplier, Atlantic (part of Scottish and Southern).

What I got was just great. A direct mail booklet, but one full of info on their green targets, and featuring nice messages about contacting them if you are concerned for an elderly person who cannot afford to pay for heating.

Normally this wouldn't be that impressive, but at a time when every other energy company is looking battered this puts them in such a positive light.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

No not a cry for battle, but a realisation that I have now reached 300 posts!

On that note, some questions for this week:

Are there any Halifax employees left that are yet to 'star' in their ads?Is the cameo appearance of Howard Brown in his contract?Is it ironic that my keyring from a well loved design agency broke three days before I had an interview there?Where was Sacrum??

2007 has been a good year for traditional advertising. The anticipated collapse never happened, digital advertising appeared to be suffering from a mild hangover, and despite a flurry of brands with 'big ads', and too many 'chain reaction' ads; it wasn't half bad.

But, there is always rubbish:

Disappointment of the Year

After a decent build up campaign, and a huge huge budget, I was expecting something more than a giant domino themed version of Cog. It's a decent watch, but lacks the Guiness charm, and feels like a weak attempt at aping W+K; rather ironically, the creatives moved to W+K almost immediately after this ad launched...

The "What Were They Thinking" Award for Bandwagon Jumping

Oh. Dear. Someone read about UGC and appeared to miss the bit about quality control.

[sourcing ad... ]

Worst Ads of 2007

Still badly written. Still badly acted. Still failing to get a good message about the company across. Had a great discussion about this campaign with Graham at Cheetham Bell JWT ; might talk about that soon.

Yes, we can see what they were going for, but they just got it very wrong. We do not like, empathise or positively associate with Mickey at all.